According to the district's spokesman Alexander Gordeev, Large-scale military exercises of air defense units, with about 8,000 troops involved, take place in the Russian Eastern Military District.

KHABAROVSK (Russia) (Sputnik)–Large-scale military exercises of air defense units, with about 8,000 troops involved, take place in the Russian Eastern Military District, the district's spokesman Alexander Gordeev said Friday.

"Large-scale military exercises of air defense units have started on five biggest training areas of the district namely in the Republic of Buryatia, the Primorsky Territory, the Sakhalin Region and the Amur Region. About 8,000 troops, 1,000 military equipment units and 120 flying units are participating in the drills," Gordeev told journalists.

The spokesman specified that the equipment includes such air defense systems as the S-300 surface-to-air missile system, the Osa short-range surface-to-air missile system, the Strela-10 low-altitude surface-to-air missile system, the Tor-M2U air defense missile system, the Pantsir-S combined short to medium range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery and Shilka self-propelled anti-aircraft gun.

According to Gordeev, the best units will participate in the 2017 International Army Games (IAG) competitions, which are planned to be held on July 29-August 12.

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